Reacting to December 2020 export figures, FIEO President Sharad Kumar Saraf said that the monthly exports have moved towards positive territory as major export products show signs of further revival as expected.

Marginal decline of just 0.8 percent with USD 26.89 billion of exports showing signs of revival as order booking position have continuously improved besides more new orders in the offing, added Saraf.

He reiterated that the New Year 2021 has brought a ray of hope and optimism for all from the worst of Covid-19 and effective vaccines are expected to bring both life and economy back on growth trajectory with a v-shaped recovery in world trade.

Arrival of vaccines have also helped in boosting the business sentiments for the sector as a whole, which can be further seen from the positive figures of the upcoming months said Mr Saraf.

FIEO President added that December exports also signals that our traditional and labour-intensive sectors of exports have passed the most challenging and testing times as both Christmas and New Year Season sales have shown positive trends with further improvement in coming months.

Going ahead by this trend, we expect our inventories to be liquidated, adding further to the overall demand, observed Saraf.

However, increase in imports during December 2020 by 7.6 percent to USD 42.60 billion compared to the same period during the previous fiscal led to a trade deficit of USD 15.71 billion with a substantial increase of 25.88 percent during the month, he said.

The FIEO Chief also said that the operationalization of the new RoDTEP effective from January 1, 2021 will remove uncertainty from the minds of the trade and industry and being WTO compatible, the same would provide complete rebating of Indian exports by refunding the taxes including embedded taxes, not rebated through any other mechanism.

However notification of the rates is the need of the hour. Saraf urged the government to address some of the key issues including adequate availability of containers, softening of freight charges, release of the required MEIS benefits and clarity on SEIS benefits, resolving risky exporters issues, etc.